Greatest Hits Six: "Bring Him Home"
Next up in Bristol Show Choir’s Top Ten, we want to take you to nineteenth century France for an epic tale of love, loss and redemption: Les Miserables.
Based on Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel of the same name, this sung through musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg (music), Alain Boublil, Jean Marc Natel (original French lyrics) and Herbert Kretzmer (English lyrics) follows Jean Valjean, who breaks his parole following an incredible act of mercy inspires him to start his anew. Under a new identity, Valjean finds himself pursued relentlessly by Inspector Javert and swept up amongst a group of idealist students, all the while trying to keep his adopted daughter Cosette safe. Originally premiering in October 1985, the show is the longest running in the West End!
There are some incredible songs in this show – 49 to be exact, and the one we at Show Choir chose is perhaps one of its most recognisable and beloved: Bring Him Home. Sung by Valjean during Act II, it’s an appeal to God to protect Marius, whom he knows Cosette loves even if it costs his own life. This song was one of our earlier Show Choir arrangements: it’s s gorgeous piece of music and a moving moment in the story, so its been lovely to see it voted in the Top Ten and revisit it as our confidence and experience as a choir has been growing.
Being a ballad, this song relies on clarity of lyric and quality of sound for it to have the emotional impact we want it to have, and so the choir have to work hard to finesse the way our sound blends as we sing, and ensure that we have clear changes in dynamics. Elements that help us do that are really focusing on our breath control – there are moments in the arrangement that build and sound better with continuous sound, and others that suit shorter lengths, so concentrating on our entries and exits is paramount. We like to remind everyone in songs like this that may be more taxing on the diaphragm: it’s ok to breathe when you need to, just as long as it’s not in the same place as the person next to you…
Diction and pronunciation are also key to this song sounding the best it can, really making the starts and ends of words as clear as possible so they aren’t lost in the overall sound. Your Show Choir blogger counts Les Mis as one of my favourite musicals and though I still hold firm in my belief that Javert has the best songs, this arrangement has really grown on me and I love singing it, especially in those moments where we all come together and harmonise: it sends shivers up my spine!
